


Role Reversal

by harvestleaves



Series: Out of Breath [11]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Allergies, Asthma, Carlos has seasonal allergies, Gen, M/M, TK gets to take care of Carlos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29016363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvestleaves/pseuds/harvestleaves
Summary: Carlos has seasonal allergies and allergy induced asthma that TK doesn't know about, cue TK taking care of his stubborn boyfriend.Tumblr prompt: Carlos, for some reason has problems breathing in a scene with the 126, so it's time for TK to help him.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Officer McCoy & Carlos Reyes (9-1-1 Lone Star)
Series: Out of Breath [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618924
Comments: 10
Kudos: 182





	Role Reversal

Carlos always had seasonal allergies, and there were times he couldn’t go on his elementary school field trips to local farms due to his allergy to hay and horses. Needless to say, springtime was usually the one season that he was out of commission due to his sinuses. But since he’d met TK in the middle of the summer, his boyfriend had yet to see him get more than just a cold.

But now, it was late March and all the flowers and trees were starting to bloom again in Austin, and Carlos’ eyes _itched._ It had started out early on patrol with his partner, Derek McCoy, and the other officer handed Carlos a Benadryl and a water silently before focusing back on the road when he saw the younger male rubbing furiously at his eyes.

Carlos was thankful for the allergy pill. It had calmed his itchy eyes, but his head now felt like it was stuffed full of cotton and his sinuses ached from the amount of congestion he was experiencing.

And to top it off, he was now wheezing.

Carlos couldn’t remember the last time his allergies had given him respiratory symptoms, and because of that, he knew for a fact that the inhaler in his desk back at the precinct with his name on the label was at least two years expired, and thus no good. His mama would kick his ass for not keeping his medications filled if she knew of his stupidity.

Shaking his head with a wheezy laugh at the thought, he raised an eyebrow when they got a call over the radio for them to head to a car crash on the highway.

“You good to go? You sound like shit,” Derek frowned as he looked at his partner in concern before he flicked the lights and siren on.

“Does TK know about your allergies? Or the fact that _you_ have allergy induced asthma?”

“It hasn’t acted up in a few years, and plus, it’s only a problem during allergy season. It’s not the same,” Carlos grumbled with a pointed look over at McCoy.

“Hypocrite. You want your boyfriend to be open to you about his asthma and you won’t tell him that you have allergy induced asthma? How exactly is that fair to him?” Derek asked the younger man curiously as he pulled their cruiser up to the scene of the crash, raising an eyebrow at the trails of smoke rising from each of the vehicles before he spared Carlos a second glance.

Hopping out to help his partner with traffic and crowd control, Carlos stifled a cough into his elbow, wincing at the high pitched wheeze and rattle that his lungs produced. He sounded like TK the few times he’d had to take his boyfriend to the ER for his own asthma, and he knew he probably needed a breathing treatment to open up his lungs, but his pride was keeping him from admitting his weakness.

Maybe he was a hypocrite. How could he expect TK to be open and honest with him when he never even explained to his boyfriend how he already knew how to operate an inhaler, or how he could put a nebulizer together in his sleep? He hadn’t had a relationship before this one with TK that had lasted longer than a few weeks, so it never really crossed his mind to explain his personal heath history with his boyfriend.

Carlos figured he’d talk to TK about it later, he had a job to do in the meantime.

Spotting the 126 rolling up to the scene, Carlos couldn’t hide the dopey smile that fell across his face when he spotted TK hop out of the firetruck to help Judd get the victims out of the cars before he quickly turned back to his work with a blush.

* * *

The call went pretty quickly, with no serious injuries for either of the drivers involved, which TK was always thankful for. Once he helped Marjan and Mateo load the gear back onto the rig, he made his way over to Carlos to talk to his boyfriend. He was glad the two of them only had about an hour left in their shifts, one of the few days that their shifts lined up perfectly.

However, the closer he got to his boyfriend, the more he realized there was something wrong with the other male. Carlos’ usually tanned face looked pale, and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. But the most concerning thing to TK was the awful wheezing coming from his boyfriend, and the way his shoulders seemed to heave with every breath made TK wince internally.

“Hey babe, you feeling okay?” TK asked softly as he reached out a hand to Carlos’ bicep to squeeze it in concern.

“H-hey Ty. Yeah, ‘m fine. J-just allergies, y’know?” Carlos explained, trying to stifle a round of coughs that were making their way up his throat, but he couldn’t keep them down.

The next bought of coughs had Carlos doubled over, hands resting on his knees as he wheezed for breath that didn’t seem to want to enter his lungs and his heart started racing in panic. He hadn’t had an attack this bad since he was a kid, his allergies typically only ever made him sneezy with the occasional wheeze, not full-blown respiratory distress like he was currently experiencing. And it _terrified_ him.

The only comfort Carlos found in that moment was TK’s soothing voice and the firm hand over his back as his boyfriend kept him upright, calling over Carlos’ partner.

Derek made his way over to them with a frown and crouched down in front of Carlos.

“He’s got allergy induced asthma. Seasonal allergies started kicking in today. He took some Benadryl this morning and I thought it helped. Check his pockets, I know he carries your spare inhaler around.”

TK nodded and quickly patted down Carlos’ pants, a sigh of relief leaving his lips when he pulled out the inhaler and quickly shook it up before pressing it to his boyfriend’s lips.

“C’mon ‘Los. Take a deep breath for me babe,” TK whispered softly into Carlos’ ear, as the other man took a shaky breath of the medication, letting it out in a harsh wheeze before another round of coughs shook his body.

“That’s it, let it all out. Can you try another puff for me?”

Carlos nodded slightly at TK’s question and inhaled another breath of the medication, letting it settle into his lungs for an extra few seconds before he shakily let it out, leaning his bodyweight into TK.

“There we go, catch your breath. I think you’re still gonna need a breathing treatment. I think you should go to the hospital for it though,” TK said softly as he ran his fingers through Carlos’ curls gently, looking up as Captain Vega made her way over to them with Tim and Nancy.

“Hey guys. Carlos needs to get taken in, allergy induced asthma attack. He took two puffs of albuterol but he’s still wheezing and could use a treatment,” TK explained as they loaded Carlos onto a gurney and Tim slid an oxygen mask onto his face along with a pulse-ox meter onto his left hand.

“Sats are in the mid 80′s, and I’ve got him on 100% O2. I’ll get him on a neb in the rig. Do you want to ride with him?” Tim asked TK, noticing how he still looked shaken up over seeing his boyfriend unable to breathe.

“Yes. Because once he’s better, he needs to tell me why he didn’t tell me he also has asthma.” TK nodded firmly with a pointed look at his boyfriend.

“It slipped my mind. H-haven’t had an attack this bad since I was little. And none of my relationships lasted long enough for them to find out about allergies, let alone asthma. I didn’t wanna get judged,” Carlos explained tiredly, a wheeze trailing his words as he looked groggily up at TK.

“Baby. You know I am the last person who will _ever_ judge you for having asthma. I love you, and nothing about you will ever change that.” TK whispered softly as he pressed a kiss to Carlos’ forehead before hopping into the ambulance with him, squeezing his hand gently. Both a signal and a promise that he would always be there.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any prompts, you can submit them to my [tumblr](https://harvestleaves.tumblr.com).


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